Three Little Words
by callmefall
Summary: Lily's boyfriend tells her he loves her, but she doesn't love him!
1. First Anniversary

**Disclaimer: I _wish_ I owned it! But I don't; JKR does.**

**A/N: Not sure if I like it or not... so please tell me if it sucks...**

JUST THREE LITTLE WORDS

Chapter 1- First Anniversary

_Amos and I have been going out for a year today!_ Lily thought happily as she looked around her room.

It was shared with four other girls, her best friends, Kassidy and Jodi. Mandy and Yvonne, the other two girls, were only friendly with Lily, Kassidy and Jodi… they didn't hang out together much.

"You look happy today." Jodi noticed, as Lily hummed.

"Today's Amos's and my first anniversary! We've been going out for a whole year today!" Lily gushed, ecstatic that someone had noticed.

"Oh, yeah. I think you might have mentioned that once or twice… no more than a few hundred times." Kassidy said, as her stomach rumbled loudly. "Anyone want breakfast, cause I'm starving!"

"Alright, let's go!" Lily said enthusiastically.

They arrived in the Great Hall five minutes later, Kassidy and Jodi heading straight for the Gryffindor table, whereas Lily tool the long route, past the Hufflepuff table, to kiss her boyfriend of the last year, Amos Diggory.

"Morning Amos!"

"Morning Lils!"

"Do you know what today is?" She asked coyly.

"Um, Thursday?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, today's the day you asked me out last year!"

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't get you a gift." He smiled apologetically at her.

"It's okay. The past year with with you is the perfect present anyway!" Lily smiled, and rushed off to the Gryffindor table, where she could pout.

"He didn't even _remember_!" Lily complained to Kassidy and Jodi, as she shoveled pieces of bacon and toast in her mouth.

"So we've heard…" Jodi said dryly.

"Maybe he thought it was tomorrow?" Kassidy said unconvincingly.

"Well, let's head on to Potions." Lily said miserably. "It's not like we have anything better to do…"

Jodi and Kassidy snorted, and Lily made an attempt at a smile. It didn't work that well…

"Potions, here we come!" Jodi mock screamed.

That evening, in a deserted corridor, James Potter was walking when he heard Amos Diggory's voice.

_Jerk. Oh, how I would love to pulverize that creep!_ James thought angrily. _Lily deserves so much better than him!_

"Come on Lils! I have to show you something!" Diggory shouted to Lily Evans, the girl of James's dreams, and object of his affections. The girl he wanted, but couldn't have…

Lily, panting as she stopped, said, "Amos, where are we going?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

They arrived in an empty classroom, set up like a fancy Italian restaurant.

"Oh, Amos!" Lily gasped.

"You like it?"

"Yes." Lily breathed. _It's so beautiful! I wonder where he got that chandelier. It's stunning!_

A house-elf walked in as they sat down.

"Is there anything Mittsy can gets you, Mr. Diggory, Miss Evans?" The elf asked.

"Could we have some breadsticks Mittsy?" Amos asked.

"I is being right back with them, sir." Mittsy said, and disappeared with a CRACK like a whip.

"Lily?" Amos said cautiously.

"Yeah, Amos?"

He looked her in the eye and said, "Lily, I love you."

"I lo—" Lily paused. "I lo—" The words wouldn't come out.

"I lo—" _Three words! Just three little words! Why can't I say those three little words? Why?!_ Lily screamed at herself in her head.

"I don't love you." She said.

**A/N: I have more for this story, but will only post it if there is a demand for more...**


	2. Bye

The words echoed in the classroom.

Slowly, Amos Diggory got up. He walked over to Lily, kissed her on the cheek, and said, "See you later Lils."

Lily blinked back tears.

"Amos!" She called after him.

He turned, and cocked his head to the side. "Yes Lily? What do you want?"

"Not yet! I don't love you _yet_." Lily said. "I might later, but not right now. Not yet."

"I know. I can wait."

"Thank you Amos. I don't love you, but I do like you a lot."

James was on the other side of the room, under his cloak. He watched them, inwardly cheering when Lily told Diggory the Prick that she didn't love him.

But Diggory said he could wait. And Lily said that she might not love him, but she did like him a lot. And Lily hated James.

His heart was breaking.

He had loved Lily, loved her most of his life. He was pretty sure he had loved the moment he met her, but hadn't known what it meant.

He had misinterpreted his love as hate. He had pulled pranks on her, and teased her mercilessly up until the end of their fourth year.

It was in Transfiguration. He had just completed the task perfectly on his first try. He glanced over smugly at a struggling Lily, and felt butterflies go through his stomach. She was glaring at him, nothing new there. The strange part was when he thought absently, Merlin she's pretty when she's mad at me.

So he asked her out, ignoring the fact she kept saying no. He tried to impress her with his achievements in Quidditch, but that just pissed her off, resulting in several verbal insults, the nicest of which has been, "James Potter, I don't see how your broom can take the weight of your colossal ego!" But the insults didn't quite get through to him, even as they got worse each time he asked her out. He didn't care. He asked her out anyway.

Then, last year, he had gone up to Lily, to ask her out again, when she said coolly, "Save your breath Potter. You might need it later. And don't bother to ask me out, I'll just say no, again, but not for the usual reason. You see, I have a boyfriend."

She seemed to enjoy the pained look she got in response, and she cheerfully said, "Well, now that that's been cleared up… I think I'll go have breakfast then." She turned towards the Great Hall, and turned back again. "After I kiss Amos good-morning. Have a good day Potter!"

James was crushed.

And he loved her more than ever.

He walked out of the now empty classroom and pulled off his Invisibility Cloak.

THREE WEEKS LATER

Lily wandered around the castle, not quite sure where she was going, but not caring enough to stop and think about it.

She was only slightly surprised when she ran into James Potter.

Potter had been the reason she'd said yes to Amos.

She had been so sick of him, asking her out every other hour, ignoring her repeated 'no', so she got a legitimate reason why she couldn't: a boyfriend.

It had worked. Now, he hardly spared her a glance. He had a new girlfriend every week, and there were rumors about what he did with them in the Astronomy tower. It kind of hurt her that he got over her that quick.

"Hey Evans. How are you?" James asked politely.

"Why so you care Potter?"

Why so I care? Because I love you! "I'm not totally sure. Just thought you looked a little troubled, and needed someone to talk to."

"A few weeks ago, Amostoldmehelovesme."

"Okay, breathe, and say that again, but slowly."

"Amos told me he loves me." Lily said, turning pink.

James raised one eyebrow. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, yeah. But I don't think I love him…" Lily continued on to red. James either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"Do you think you will, ever?" James asked, trying to keep the burning curiosity out of his voice.

Lily blinked. Will I ever love Amos? The answer came, and she didn't like it. "No." She whispered.

"You should tell him." He stated it like it was obvious. It was.

"Yes, I should."

"He's probably in his Common Room."

"Yeah." Lily walked in a dream-like state.

How the hell did that happen? I just spoke with James Potter about my love life, and he gave me worthwhile advice!

She saw Amos in front of her, and yelled, "Amos!"

"Lily?"

"I-I don't love you!"

"It's okay… you don't have to love me yet."

"But I won't."

"Won't what?"

"Love you. I am so sorry."

"Well, there's no point in continuing this if that's the case. Love you Lils."

"Bye Amos." Lily blinked back tears.

She turned, and went back to where she had run into James. He wasn't there.

Or so she thought.

James watched as she leaned on the wall, slid down and wrapped her arms around her knees. He watched as she started to cry. He longed to take off the cloak and comfort her, but he didn't think she would appreciate that.

He went back to the Common Room, and walked up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dorms.


	3. Friends

A/N: I'm not JK, and I'm fairly certain that anyone with a brain can figure that out by now… this is what

**A/N: Sometimes I make believe that I'm JK.**

"We broke up." Lily said glumly, when Kassidy and Jodi demanded to know why she was so gloomy.

"What?! Why?" Kassidy exclaimed. "I thought you loved him!"

"That's why we broke up… I didn't."

"But you might later!" Jodi interjected.

"No. I can't." Lily wouldn't admit it, but she had kind of developed a thing for James Potter in the last couple of weeks. He was so much nicer now.

"Can't? As in physically impossible?" Kassidy questioned. "Or do you mean won't?"

"Can't, won't, what's the difference?" Lily said despairingly.

"Can't implies you are in love with someone else."

"Well I don't, so I guess I meant won't." Lily said sharply.

"Lily!" Jodi whined. "You're not telling us something!"

"I'm going to bed. See you girls in the morning."

_They broke up! Because _she_ didn't love _him_. I wonder if she'll go out with me… no, we have to be friends first! She'll never forgive me if I ask her out in her moment of 'weakness'. Plus, she probably needs a friend more than a boyfriend right now._

"Prongs, mate, what's up?" Sirius asked as he walked into the sixth year boys dormitories.

"Lily broke up with Diggory."

"How would you happen to come by this piece of information?"

"I was spying on her date with him a few weeks ago, and he told her he loved her… but she said she didn't love him yet. He told her she didn't have to yet, he could wait, and I left. Well, anyway, last night, I ran into her, and I asked what was wrong, because she seemed a little down, and she had been brooding over not loving him. She told me about her disastrous anniversary with Diggory, and how he loved her, but she didn't reciprocate. So I asked if she could ever love him, and she said no, like she had just realized it. I told her that he deserved to know, I think I said something about her not wanting to string him along, but I might have just been thinking that part."

Sirius stared at James open-mouthed.

"Prongs, you broke them up!"

James grinned. "Yeah, and it does give me a better chance with her…"

"Definitely. So are you going to ask her to Hogsmeade?"

"Are you _mental_?!"

"Huh?"

"She'd kill me! Plus, I bet she needs a friend more then a boyfriend at this point…" James even shocked himself as the words came out of his mouth.

"Who are you, and what did you do with my best mate Prongs?" Sirius managed to say, though still somewhat in shock.

James grinned. "He's in the closet."

Lily was depressed.

_I did the right thing, didn't I? What if I would have fallen in love with Amos?_ Was what went through her mind most of the time.

She was in the owlery, crying, when James enetered.

He had a letter in his hand, but he didn't seem surprised to see her there.

_Merlin, she looks so miserable. I wish there was something I could do. Maybe I should leave…_ But acting on instinct, he moved closer.

"Are you okay Lily?" He asked, concerned, but not in an over-bearing way.

"Just peachy." Lily replied, bitingly sarcastic."

"That was a stupid question, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

_Yet another thing I love about her. She never wastes time beating around the bush!_

"Is there anything I can do to help?" James hoped that he hadn't said the wrong thing. It would _not_ be pretty if he had.

"No."

He sat down next to her.

She smiled, faintly, before bursting into tears.

"Lily?" James asked quietly.

"Potter?"

"Do you need a friend?"

She nodded, and put her head on his shoulder. Tears streamed down her face, and James patted her back comfortingly, and unassumingly.

"Did I do the right thing James? Breaking up with Amos?"

He responded with his own questions. "Could you have loved him, loved him enough to see past his quirks? To forgive him for anything?" _Could you love him like I love you?_ "Would you, could you, ever love him at all?"

"Thank you James. I've always been horrid to you, and yet, you're still willing to comfort me."

Lily asked the most childish question she'd asked in years.

"Do you want to be my friend?"

"Does Sirius have like he's twelve?"

Lily grinned, remembering the way Sirius had jumped around the couches of the Common Room, singing 'Celebrate good times, come on!' when he had gotten a certain Chocolate Frog card.

"Which card was that anyway?"

"I honestly don't know. Thank you Lily, for being my friend."

"All it took was less arrogance, bullying, and all-around-prickyness." Lily smiled weakly as she spoke, showing that she no longer believed that stuff.

"So you're forgiving me for being 'a bullying toe-rag of a prat!'?"

Lily giggled. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's okay. It's true, although you do seem to catch me at my worst." James sighed. "But then again, my worst shouldn't be that bad…"

"It's not true anymore though. You changed, for the better. You're much more mature now. I'm actually rather surprised you didn't ask me out the moment you found out that Amos and I had broken up."

"You would have killed me."

Lily giggled again. "Yeah, probably. A boyfriend is the last thing I need right now."

"That's what I told Sirius!"

"Mind me asking why?"

"He asked if I was going to ask you to Hogsmeade."

"What did you say?"

"I asked him if he was mental, and he said 'huh?'"

Lily sniggered. "That sounds like Sirius. You know, sometimes he reminds me of a dog. Silly, a little immature, caring, and slightly dopey. Anyway, what did you say?"

"'She would kill me!' I think I also said something like 'Besides, I think she needs a friend more then a boyfriend right now', so then Sirius asks 'Who are you, and what did you do with my best mate?' and I said, 'He's in the closet.'"

Lily laughed, leaning on James for support. "That sounds about right." She said when she could speak.

"Yeah, I guess it does." James said wryly.

"Oh, stop beating yourself up about it James. What's done is done."

"We should probably go to breakfast."

"Probably." Lily giggled when her stomach growled. "Wait, I take that back… we have to go to breakfast, immediately.  
James laughed when his stomach growled too. "You okay now?

"I feel better." She gave him a swift hug, smiled and said, "Thanks."

Then she grinned mischievously, and took off down the corridor, yelling "Last one to the Great Hall is a rotten egg!" after her.

James grinned, and ran after her.


End file.
